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Bangalore, one of the fastest growing metro cities in the country, recently made headlines for a rather messy affair — overflowing garbage.
However, what is scary is that Bangalore is not alone. Almost all the cities and towns in the country are facing the problem of overflowing garbage due to the short-sighted approach taken to disposal of solid waste.
Besides being a logistical problem, gases emitted from unprocessed waste dumping also poses an environmental and health problem.
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Jamia Milia Islamia, conducted a pilot demonstration on Thursday to capture and purify the gases released from the Okhla landfill site in Delhi.
In the pilot demonstration, an active landfill gas collection system was used, which comprised a series of well-spaced vertical wells (similar to borewells) used for efficient collection of landfill gas, piping network and blowers to connect the methane produced by the landfill to the treatment and conditioning system.
According to TERI, fossil fuel could be substituted by this collected gas, which is otherwise getting wasted.
TERI spokesperson added that this would lead to better working conditions in landfills, and would significantly improve the environment for the surrounding areas.
Methane, the principal gas released from landfills, is not only an odorous gas (making the surrounding areas difficult to live in) but also highly inflammable, increasing the chances of an explosive accident. Further, it is also a greenhouse gas and is reportedly 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of its global warming potential.
India produces around 70 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, of which less than five per cent is processed scientifically.
According to TERI, a 100 MW landfill gas power plant can save greenhouse gases of approximately 988 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emission.
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